An apparatus for isolating ADSL signals from POTS signals includes a single low pass filter for filtering the POTS signals for all POTS terminal devices within a customer's premises. The low pass filter is mounted within a line isolation device (LID) connected between a telephone jack and an ADSL transceiver. The customer's wiring is altered so that the ADSL and POTS signals are supplied to blue (B) and yellow (Y) lines, rather than the typical connection to the red (R) and green (G) lines, and the LID returns filtered POTS signals on the R and G lines. The telephone jacks within the premises remain connected to the R and G lines and receive the filtered POTS signals from the LID. Instead of reconnecting incoming signals to the R and G lines upon removal of the ADSL transceiver, a jack is preferably used which automatically shorts the B and Y lines to the R and G lines, respectively, upon removal of the LID from one of the telephone jacks. A wall-mounted connector for coupling with the LID includes a pair of shorting bars. When the connector for the LID is inserted into the jack, a set of coupling members for making connections between the connectors are moved away from the shorting bars and are electrically isolated from each other. When the LID connector is inserted into the jack, each shorting bar contacts a pair of coupling members, thereby shorting the B and Y lines to the R and G lines, respectively.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An apparatus for isolating Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals from higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, the customer's telephony wiring having a POTS pair of lines for carrying POTS signals to at least one POTS terminal device, comprising: a connector for coupling with a telephone jack located within the customer's telephony wiring, the telephone jack being located within customer premises and being connected to the POTS pair of lines and to a non-POTS pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring; a first pair of lines for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from the telephone jack through the connector, the first pair of lines being coupled to the non-POTS pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring; a low pass filter for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from the first pair of lines and for outputting filtered POTS signals; a second pair of lines for carrying the filtered POTS signals from the low pass filter to the telephone jack through the connector, the second pair of lines being coupled to the POTS pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring; wherein the connector is for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from the non-POTS pair of lines through the telephone jack over the first pair of lines and is for providing filtered POTS signals to the telephone jack over the second pair of lines and wherein the second pair of lines is coupled to the POTS pair of lines so that the POTS terminal device receives the filtered POTS signals.
2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the first pair of lines is for carrying the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from B and Y lines of the telephone jack.
3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the second pair of lines is for carrying the filtered POTS signals to red and green lines of the telephone jack.
4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the higher band communication signals comprise ADSL signals and the low pass filter is for removing the ADSL signals from the POTS signals.
5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a second connector for receiving the higher band communication signals and the POTS signals from the first pair of lines and for supplying at least the higher band communication signals to a transceiver unit.
6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5 , further comprising a third pair of lines for coupling the second connector to the first pair of lines.
7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a second telephone jack for receiving the filtered POTS signals from the second pair of lines.
8. A system for isolating Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals from higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, the customer's telephony wiring having a POTS pair of lines for carrying the POTS signals to at least one POTS terminal device and a non-POTS pair of lines, the system comprising: an interconnect device for receiving the POTS signals and higher band communication signals and for placing the POTS signals and higher band communication signals onto the non-POTS pair of lines in the customer's telephony wiring; and a line isolation device electrically connected to the non-POTS pair of lines for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals and for supplying at least the higher band communication signals to a transceiver unit, the line isolation device including a low pass filter for receiving the POTS signals and higher band communication signals from the non-POTS pair of lines and for outputting filtered POTS signals onto the POTS pair of lines in the telephony wiring; wherein at least one telephone jack in the telephony wiring is connected to the POTS pair of lines for receiving the filtered POTS signals and for providing the filtered POTS signals to the POTS terminal device; wherein the non-POTS pair of lines comprises B and Y lines of the customer's telephony wiring and the interconnect device places the POTS signals and higher band communication signals onto the B and Y lines.
9. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the interconnect devise comprises a network interface devise.
10. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the interconnect devise comprises an inside network interface device.
11. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the POTS pair of lines comprises red and green lines of the customer's telephony wiring and the line isolation device is for placing filtered POTS signals onto the red and green lines.
12. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the line isolation device comprises a communication jack for coupling at least the higher band communication signals to the transceiver unit.
13. The system as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the communication jack comprises an RJ11 jack and receives the higher band communication signals at red and green contacts.
14. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the line isolation device includes a telephone jack for receiving the filtered POTS signals from the low pass filter.
15. The system as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising a connector for connecting the line isolation device to the non-POTS pair of lines.
16. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the higher band signals comprise ADSL signals and the low pass filter is for removing the ADSL signals from the POTS signals.
17. A system for isolating Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals from higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, comprising: an interconnect device for receiving the POTS signals and higher band communication signals and for placing the POTS signals and higher band communication signals onto a first pair of lines in the telephony wiring; a line isolation device electrically connected to the first pair of lines for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals and for supplying at least the higher band communication signals to a transceiver unit, the line isolation device including a low pass filter for receiving the POTS signals and higher band communication signals from the first pair of lines and for outputting filtered POTS signals onto a second pair of lines in the telephony wiring; wherein at least one telephone jack in the telephony wiring is connected to the second pair of lines for receiving the filtered POTS signals; the system further comprising a connector for connecting the line isolation device to the first pair of lines; wherein the connector is for receiving a mating connector from the line isolation device with the connector shorting the first pair of lines to the second pair of lines when the mating connector is disconnected from the connector.
18. A method of enabling a customer's telephony wiring to receive both Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals and higher band communication signals, comprising: disconnecting incoming lines, which are for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from a central office, from a first pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring and connecting the incoming lines to a second pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring; selecting a first telephone jack as a communication jack; connecting the second pair of lines to the communication jack and maintaining a connection between the first pair of lines and the communication jack; connecting an input of a low pass filter to the second pair of lines and connecting an output of the low pass filter to the first pair of lines, the low pass filter for receiving the higher band communication signals and the POTS signals over the second pair of lines and for supplying filtered POTS signals on the first pair of lines; and maintaining a connection between the first pair of lines and at least one other telephone jack, the at least one other telephone jack for receiving the filtered POTS signals on the first pair of lines and for supplying the filtered POTS signal to a POTS terminal device; wherein the higher band communication signals may be routed over the second pair of lines to a transceiver unit and the filtered POTS signals may be routed over the first pair of lines to the POTS terminal device.
19. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein disconnecting the incoming lines and connecting tie incoming lines comprise disconnecting the incoming lines from R and G lines of the telephony wiring and connecting the incoming lines to B and Y lines of the telephony wiring.
20. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein disconnecting and connecting the incoming lines occur within a device for connecting the customer's telephony wiring to the public switched telephone network.
21. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein connecting the second pair of lines to the communication jack comprises connecting the communication jack to B and Y lines of the customer's telephony wiring and maintaining the connection between the first pair of lines and the communication jack comprises maintaining the connection between R and G lines of the customer's telephony wiring and the communication jack.
22. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein connecting the input of the low pass filter to the second pair of lines comprises connecting the input of the low pass filter to B and Y lines of the customer's wiring and connecting the output of the low pass filter to the first pair of lines comprises connecting the output of the low pass filter to R and G lines of the customer's telephony wiring.
23. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein maintaining the connection between the first pair of lines and the at least one other telephone jack comprises maintaining the connection between the at least one other telephone jack and the red and green lines of the customer's telephony wiring.
24. The method as set forth in claim 18 , further comprising routing the filtered POTS signals over the first pair of lines to the POTS terminal device.
25. The method as set forth in claim 18 , further comprising routing the higher band communication signals over the second pair of lines to the transceiver unit.
26. A method of enabling a customer's telephony wiring to receive both Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals and higher band communication signals, comprising: disconnecting incoming lines, which are for receiving the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals from a central office, from a first pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring and connecting the incoming lines to a second pair of lines within the customer's telephony wiring; selecting a first telephone jack as a communication jack; connecting the second pair of lines to the communication jack and maintaining a connection between the first pair of lines and the communication jack; connecting an input of a low pass filter to the second pair of lines and connecting an output of the low pass filter to the first pair of lines, the low pass filter for receiving the higher band communication signals and the POTS signals over the second pair of lines and for supplying filtered POTS signals on the first pair of lines; and maintaining a connection between the first pair of lines and at least one other telephone jack, the at least one other telephone jack for receiving the filtered POTS signals on the first pair of lines and for supplying the filtered POTS signal to a POTS terminal device; wherein the higher band communication signals may be routed over the second pair of lines to a transceiver unit and the filtered POTS signals may be routed over the first pair of lines to the POTS terminal device; the method further comprising disconnecting a transceiver unit from the communication jack and automatically shorting the first pair of lines to the second pair of lines.
27. A communication connector for use in carrying Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals and higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, comprising: a body having an orifice for receiving a mating connector; a first coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a first line within the telephony wiring; a second coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a second line within the telephony wiring; a third coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a third line within the telephony wiring; a fourth coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a fourth line within the telephony wiring; a first shorting bar formed of an electrically conductive material; a second shorting bar formed of the electrically conductive material; and means for placing the first coupling member and the second coupling member in electrical contact with the first shorting bar and for placing the fourth coupling member and third coupling member in electrical contact with the second shorting bar when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice and for separating the first coupling member and the second coupling member from the first shoring bar and for separating the fourth coupling member and the third coupling member from the second shorting bar when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice; wherein the placing means shorts the first line to the second line and shorts the third line to the fourth line when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice; the first and fourth lines of the customer's telephony wiring for carrying POTS signals and the higher band communication signals; the first and fourth coupling members for passing the POTS signals and the higher band communication signals to the mating connector when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice; the second and third coupling members for receiving filtered POTS signals from the mating connector when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice and for passing the filtered POTS signals onto the second and third lines of the customer's telephony wiring; the first and fourth coupling members for receiving POTS signals from the first and fourth lines of the customer's telephony wiring when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice; and the second and third coupling members for receiving the POTS signals from the first and fourth coupling members, through the first and second shorting bars, when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice and for passing the POTS signals onto the second and third lines of the customer's telephony wiring when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice.
28. The connector as set forth in claim 27 , wherein the first coupling member is for being connected to a B line within the telephony wiring, the second coupling member is for being connected to a R line within the telephony wiring, the third coupling member is for being connected to a G line within the telephony wiring, and the fourth coupling member is for being connected to a Y line within the telephony wiring.
29. A communication connector for use in carrying Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals and higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, comprising: a body having an orifice for receiving a mating connector; a first coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a first line within the telephony wiring; a second coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a second line within the telephony wiring; a third coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a third line within the telephony wiring; a fourth coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a fourth line within the telephony wiring; a first shorting bar formed of an electrically conductive material; a second shorting bar formed of the electrically conductive material; and means for placing the first coupling member and the second coupling member in electrical contact with the first shorting bar and for placing the fourth coupling member and third coupling member in electrical contact with the second shorting bar when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice and for separating the first coupling member and the second coupling member from the first shoring bar and for separating the fourth coupling member and the third coupling member from the second shorting bar when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice; wherein the placing means shorts the first line to the second line and shorts the third line to the fourth line when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice; and wherein the placing means includes a spring having one end secured to the body and a mount secured to an opposite end of the spring, the first and second shorting bars are secured to the mount and the spring is for biasing the first shorting bar into contact with the first and second coupling members and for biasing the second shorting bar into contact with the third and fourth coupling members when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice.
30. The connector as set forth in claim 29 , wherein the mount is for contacting the mating connector when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice, the mount compressing the spring when the mating connector is inserted to move the first shorting bar away from the first and second coupling members and to move the second shorting bar away from the third and fourth coupling members.
31. A communication connector for use in carrying Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) signals and higher band communication signals within a customer's telephony wiring, comprising: a body having an orifice for receiving a mating connector; a first coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a first line within the telephony wiring; a second coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a second line within the telephony wiring; a third coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a third line within the telephony wiring; a fourth coupling member located in the orifice for being connected to a fourth line within the telephony wiring; a first shorting bar formed of an electrically conductive material; a second shorting bar formed of the electrically conductive material; and means for placing the first coupling member and the second coupling member in electrical contact with the first shorting bar and for placing the second coupling member and third coupling member in electrical contact with the second shorting bar when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice and for separating the first coupling member and the second coupling member from the first shoring bar and for separating the second coupling member and the third coupling member from the second shorting bar when the mating connector is inserted into the orifice; wherein the placing means shorts the first line to the second line and shorts the third line to the fourth line when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice; and wherein the placing means comprises mounting members for mounting the first and second shorting bars to the body, the mounting members placing the first and second shorting means at first and second locations, respectively, so that the first and second coupling members contact the first shorting bar and the third and fourth coupling members contact the second shorting bar when the mating connector is withdrawn from the orifice.
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November 17, 1997
September 10, 2002
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